Public Toilet
A man is walking home from work late at night in the dark. Unfortunately, he is desperate to go to the bathroom so he decides to take a trip to the nearest public toilet. However, he is hesitant to walk closer after spotting a strange figure lurking outside the building. Upon closer inspection, he realises that the figure seems to be a disabled person hobbling around the outside of the toilet. He thinks it must be a woman from the body shape and feminine clothing. The woman appears short because both shins split painfully outwards, like she had a severe case of knock-knees. With every small step, her legs seem to bend and snap painfully under her weight, even though she is extremely thin. Her face is covered messily with long hair and her knee-length dress is dirty and grey. Her left arm is also deformed and bends outwards. In her right hand is a strangely-shaped walking stick; she groans and wheezes quietly as she leans on it for support. The man is both concerned and frightened at the strange sight, so he hides behind a tree. After taking some time to calm down, he becomes angry at himself; firstly for being such a coward, and secondly for being terrified of someone so unfortunate. It’s not her fault for being disabled, and he should probably just take pity on her and mind his own business like any other ordinary person would. Perhaps the dark had simply terrified him out of his mind. He tries to imagine the scene in daylight, as he always does to calm himself down when he becomes nervous and alone late at night. Despite this, he is still creeped out so he decides to wait outside a little longer. After a while, he sees her enter the men’s toilets, confirming his suspicions that she had mental issues as well as physical disabilities. By now he is desperate so he approaches the doors cautiously, but decides to walk away again because he thinks it would be awkward to tell a woman to get out of the men’s toilets, which he would eventually have to do in one way or another. Also, it would be very dark inside and he didn’t want to be with her alone. Approaching footsteps make him jump and he hides behind the tree again, but he is irritated at himself once he sees that it is just another man walking by. The other man enters the toilets, but he doesn’t come out after a long period of time. This makes him even more nervous. At last, the man gathers up the courage to go inside and is about to do so when he sees the woman come out of the building, hobbling out of the door with difficulty as she leans on her walking stick. Relieved, he finally emerges from his hiding place and advances towards the building, shaking his head with a smile. It was just a quick wave of anxiety—that was all. After the woman catches sight of the man, she starts to hobble slowly towards him. He ignores her, but when she starts to limp towards him at a frightening pace, he stops in confusion. She is groaning loudly with a hint of a chuckle and her breathing is now a mixture of panting and growling. At first, he thinks that she is coming towards him for help, or because she is in pain. Suddenly, he catches sight of something which immediately makes him turn and run for his life. In her right hand is not a walking stick but an axe, still dripping with blood. Category:Mental Illness Category:Dismemberment